PM Commends Jamaicans Overseas

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller has commended Jamaicans in the Diaspora for their consistent support of Jamaica and for never forgetting their country no matter where in the world they live. The Prime Minister was speaking at a meeting with Jamaicans in the Diaspora at the St. George’s Episcopal Church in New York on Thursday, March 27.

Prime Minister Simpson Miller noted that Jamaica is a great and proud nation and that Jamaicans are descendants of a strong and noble ancestral lineage. In that regard, she paid tribute to Jamaica’s National Heroes and Heroine.

She added that she is proud of the lead role played by Jamaica in advocating for the construction at the United Nations, of a Permanent Memorial to honour the victims of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade, securing the support of the entire UN General Assembly for the project, and helping to mobilise the funding necessary for its construction. Mrs. Simpson Miller delivered remarks at the ceremony to unveil the monument on Wednesday, March 26.

“We are a nation and a people, who are sensitive to our history and proud of the invincible spirit of resolve, determination and triumph which we have inherited from our ancestors,” Prime Minister Simpson Miller pointed out.

She said it is fitting that this Permanent Memorial to our ancestors is located in New York, which is home to the more than 1.1 million Jamaicans who reside in the Tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

“You are by far, the largest concentration of our Diaspora population and although you live outside Jamaica, I know that your love for, and your links with, our beloved country, remain strong and vibrant,” the Prime Minister noted.

“We are proud of you,” Mrs. Simpson Miller told members of the Jamaican Diaspora. “I want to thank you for the fact that, even though you have left your homeland, you have never forgotten Jamaica,” she said.

The Prime Minister pointed out that the Government of Jamaica respects the human rights of everyone in Jamaica and does not discriminate against any individuals or groups.